GRAY’S COUNCIL TAX PANIC EXPOSED BY LOCAL LABOUR COUNCIL LEADER

For Immediate Release - Sunday 20th March 2011

Attn:       NEWSDESKS
            POLITICAL CORRESPONDENTS

EAST LOTHIAN LABOUR WANTED 2% COUNCIL TAX INCREASE

The rush to Iain Gray’s humiliating u-turn on supporting the SNP's policy of a two year Council Tax freeze has been further exposed by the fact that his local councillors in East Lothian demanded that Council Tax be increased by 2% when the local council’s budget was being debated in February.

At the East Lothian Council budget debate on the 8th of February the opposition Labour Group Leader, Cllr Willie Innes, proposed a 2% Council Tax rise.

The local Labour party’s support for a rise actually happened AFTER Iain Gray had claimed on 24th January that Labour would accept the SNP Government’s Council Tax freeze.

Commenting on the utter confusion at the heart of Labour’s Council Tax policy, East Lothian Council Leader and SNP Councillor Paul McLennan said:

“This utter confusion from Labour and Iain Gray just shows that they cannot be trusted at all when it comes to a Council Tax freeze.

“How on earth can we believe a word Labour and Iain Gray say when only days after he said he was supporting a freeze for this year his own local Council group leader was demanding a 2% rise?

“If Iain Gray cannot convince his own local Labour Group why should Scotland trust him?”

SNP Lothian MSP Shirley-Anne Somerville added:

"Iain Gray has been humiliated on this issue. After their numerous attacks on a Council Tax freeze it is yet another example of hypocrisy.

“Just weeks before an election they have dumped their Council Tax reform policy despite promising they would announce an alternative. Yet after months of delays and prevarication they have failed to come up with a policy.

"It is also incoherent since they only just voted against a Council Tax freeze in the recent budget.

“There must now be serious questions about Iain Gray's leadership as he fails to bring his own local party with him and follows the SNP's agenda.

"However what Iain Gray says doesn't meet the reality of his party's track record. The SNP and Labour records on Council Tax speak for themselves.

"It was the SNP which promised a Council Tax freeze and delivered a Council Tax freeze for four years, and it was Labour who increased Council Tax by 60% when they were last in power.

"In the weeks ahead we will be telling voters those facts and that they can't believe a word Labour says on Council Tax.”

ENDS

Notes

Quotes showing Labour opposition to a Council Tax freeze with claims that
it would have to be paid for from a number of sources – thus begging the
question as to whether or not they now believe that cuts should be made in
those areas:

***********************

1. IAIN GRAY CALLS FOR COUNCIL TAX FREEZE TO END

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i. Herald, 3rd October 2010

"It does not look to us that the Council Tax freeze is sustainable. In the
circumstances in which they find themselves, Councils should have that
share of the £70m. They have to have as much flexibility as possible. I
don’t think local authorities should be free to put their Council Tax up
as much as they feel like it. We are saying they ought to be given their
freedom to set tax locally.”
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/revealed-labour-s-council-tax-bombshell-1.1058937

-----------------------

ii. Brian Taylor's BBC Webcast, 29th October 2010

"If a Council comes to the Government, if it was my Government, and said
'we need some flexibility to avoid the worst of the cuts', I would listen
to them.

"If they could convince me exactly what the beneficial effect of that
should be, we should listen to that."

On the level of cap, he said: "I think in the current circumstances,
you're talking about one or two percent."

-----------------------

iii. Daily Record, 17th August 2010

“Labour leader Iain Gray demands end to Council Tax freeze to help
authorities offset Tory cuts”

Scottish Labour called yesterday for the SNP government to end the Council
Tax freeze...

...Gray's call came after Labour-led Glasgow became the first local
authority in Scotland to challenge the council Tax Freeze publicly.

Leader Gordon Matheson said he needed the option of raising extra cash to
offset "brutal" cuts as the city seeks savings of £180 million over the
next three years.

***********************

2. EXAMPLES OF LABOUR FRONT BENCHERS OPPOSING THE COUNCIL TAX FREEZE:

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i. HELEN EADIE’S WARNINGS OF DOOM

In a Parliamentary debate on 25th March 2009 Labour MSP Helen Eadie went
as far to suggest that the consequences of a Council Tax freeze could be
people dying:

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): Campaigners in Scotland warned that
people would die as a result of the cuts, which councils blame on the SNP
Government's Council Tax freeze.
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0325-02.htm

-----------------------

ii. ANDY KERR, LABOUR’S FINANCE SPOKESPERSON

In a Parliamentary debate on 27 March 2008 Labour’s finance spokesperson
Andy Kerr mocked a Council Tax freeze at a time of cuts.

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): It will seem ironic to many communities
throughout Scotland that the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable
Growth is parading the glory of the Council Tax freeze as they experience
many cuts in public services.
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-08/sor0327-02.htm

And in a debate on 11 February 2009 he claimed that a Council Tax freeze
only benefited the better off.

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): The Cabinet Secretary talked about who
gains from the Council Tax freeze. All the evidence suggests that the
best-off—those who are in a better position in society and who have more
wages coming into their homes—gain from the Council Tax freeze
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0211-02.htm

-----------------------

iii. DAVID WHITTON, LABOUR’S DEPUTY FINANCE SPOKESPERSON

On 11 February 2009 Labour’s deputy spokesperson on finance David Whitton
claimed a Council Tax freeze would leads to poorer services and job
losses.

David Whitton (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): That will translate into
poorer services for the public and job losses among local authority
workers, which is the real price of the SNP's Council Tax freeze.
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0211-02.htm

On the 10th of February 2010 he claimed a Council Tax freeze led to the
removal of a “vital” income stream.

David Whitton (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): Those who favour a
Council Tax freeze say that it saves people money, but it is regressive:
people who live in band G homes, who can afford to pay more, save more
than those at the bottom of the scale, but the impact of service cuts is
greater on the poorest in society. For Councils, it removes a vital income
stream, which could be spent on the services and jobs that they should be
delivering.
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-10/sor0210-02.htm

On 10th March 2010 he tabled an amendment to a Parliamentary Motion
attacking the Council Tax freeze and calling it an "imposition".

It refers to “difficult budget decisions had to be taken by East
Dunbartonshire Council … as a result of the SNP Government’s imposition
of zero percent Council Tax policy”.
http://www.parlamaid-alba.org/Apps2/business/motions/Default.aspx?motionid=18557

It has been supported by Jackie Baillie, Mr Frank McAveety, Rhona Brankin,
Trish Godman, James Kelly, Helen Eadie, Des McNulty, Pauline McNeill, Mary
Mulligan, Elaine Smith and Marilyn Livingstone

In a Scottish Parliament debate on 19th May 2010, he claimed a freeze left
Councils unable to balance the books.

David Whitton (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): Will we see another
Council Tax freeze? Perhaps only Mr Swinney knows the answer to that one,
but it leaves many Councils unable to balance their books.
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-10/sor0519-02.htm

Even as recently as 10 February 2011 he was saying it would do damage to
local authority services.

David Whitton (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): The cost of the unfunded
Council Tax freeze does untold damage to local authority services, just so
the SNP can claim to have helped the average band D council tax payer to
save a few pence a week.
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/apps2/business/orsearch/ReportView.aspx?r=6102&mode=html

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iv. MICHAEL MCMAHON, LABOUR’S LOCAL GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON

On his biog page on the Scottish Labour party website Labour’s Local
Government spokesman Michael McMahon says a Council Tax freeze equals
cuts:

"The Council Tax freeze means that Councils have been forced to make cuts
that they know will damage local services."
http://www.scottishlabour.org.uk/local-government

In a Scottish Parliament debate on 19th May 2010, Michael McMahon
criticised a Council Tax freeze claiming it would benefit those hit
hardest by recession least:

"The fact is that those who are hardest hit by the recession, and by
social exclusion generally, are those who benefit least from the Council
Tax freeze"
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-10/sor0519-02.htm

On 17th August 2010 Michael McMahon the issued a statement claiming a
Council Tax freeze doesn't benefit the poorest.

“It isn’t the poorest who benefit from the Council Tax freeze. The main
beneficiaries are high earners..."
http://www.scottishlabour.org.uk/labourcondemn-63-million-snp-cut-to-council-funding

And on 29th October 2010 he made a conference speech claiming a Council
Tax freeze could only be achieved by holding a gun to Councillors’ heads.

"...currently the SNP is holding a gun to Councillors’ heads in order to
achieve a Council Tax freeze."
http://www.scottishlabour.org.uk/speech-to-scottish-conference-by-michael-mcmahon

As recently as 1st February 2011 Labour’s Michael McMahon issued a
statement saying a Council Tax freeze was a result of bullying
Councillors.

"[The SNP] have spent the last four years disrespecting local government
and bullying councillors to get their own way on issues like the Council
Tax freeze.”
http://www.scottishlabour.org.uk/snp-accused-of-disrespecting-local-government

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v. JOHANN LAMONT, LABOUR’S HOUSING SPOKESPERSON

On 15th March 2010 Labour’s housing spokesperson Johann Lamont issued a
press release claiming a Council Tax freeze took money away from housing
grants.

"It looks like the SNP is asking the housing industry and local
communities to pay the price to protect its own party political
priorities, like the centrally imposed Council Tax freeze."
http://www.scottishlabour.org.uk/140-million-local-housing-cuts-revealed

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vi. DES MCNULTY, LABOUR’S EDUCATION SPOKESMAN

In a Press Association report on 17th March 2010 Labour’s education
spokesman Des McNulty claimed the Council Tax freeze took money away from
schools.

"From Edinburgh to East Ayrshire, the SNP is presiding over chaos while
Mike Russell washes his hands of the problems his Government has caused
by diverting money from schools to fund their imposed Council Tax
freeze."